CES 2012 Day 2 Coverage Review - PAGE 1

The Arctic booth had quite a few different coolers and accessories on display, and one of the first that we came across was the Freezer 7 PRO Rev. 2. This cooler is designed to work with Intel CPU sockets 1366/1156/1155/775 and AMD CPU sockets FM2/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2/939/754. The cooler is capable of cooling up to 150W with the Ultra quiet 92mm PWM fan and 3 heatpipes and 42 fins. Arctic's MX-2 thermal compound is pre-applied for out-of-the-box installation.

The next cooler is the Alpine 11 Plus, which is designed for Intel socket 1156/1155/775 systems and features a maximum of 100W of cooling power with an ultra-quiet 92mm PWM fan. The cooler has an optimized heatsink for better heat dissipation and comes with MX-4 thermal compound pre-applied to the base.

The Freezer i30 is one of Arctic's newer coolers on the market. This cooler is designed for Intel sockets 2011/1156/1155 and gives a maximum cooling capacity of a huge 320 Watts! The ultra-quiet interchangeable 120mm PWM fan comes installed with rubber shock absorbers to minimize vibration and noise levels. Instead of pre-applied thermal paste, you will find a half gram syringe of MX-4 thermal compound included in the box.

The second new cooler here at the booth is the Freezer A30 for AMD CPU sockets FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2. It comes with a half gram syringe of MX-4 thermal compound and features a maximum cooling capacity of 320 Watts. The 120mm PWM fan comes installed on the cooler, which also features four double-sided direct-touch heatpipes for rapid heat dissipation like the Freezer i30.

The Arctic Freezer 13 PRO CO is a cooler for both Intel and AMD CPU sockets with a cooling capacity of 300 Watts. A 120mm PWM fan comes installed on the cooler and is designed for Continuous Operation with dual ball bearings for a lifespan that is expected to be two to five times longer than a typical sleeve bearing fan. The regular Freezer 13 has a maximum cooling capacity of 200 Watts with the ultra-quiet 92mm PWM fan included.

Getting into the VGA cooling solutions from Arctic, we first have the Accelero S1 PLUS and S1 PLUS Turbo Module. The Accelero S1 Plus alone is just a heatsink with no fan installed on it at all, but is CrossFire and SLI compatible and has a patented heatsink design for efficient passive cooling. MX-4 thermal compound comes pre-applied on the cooler. The S1 PLUS Turbo Module meanwhile is a 120mm fan that will help boost the S1 PLUS' cooling performance and is extremely quiet (operating at 0.5 sone). Fluid dynamic bearings help extend service life. The Accelero Mono PLUS is a VGA Cooler for enthusiasts, promising unmatched cooling performance of up to 200 Watts of cooling capacity with an ultra-quiet 120mm PWM fan installed. It features a total of five heatpipes that are designed for efficient heat dissipation and a patented fan holder that absorbs vibration to eliminate the buzzing sound.

Along the Accelero Twin Turbo series, Arctic showcased the new 6990 version that is specfically designed to run only on the ATI Radeon HD 6990 graphics card (now what gave that away?). With this cooler you are going to get a maximum of 400 Watts of cooling performance. To achieve this, Arctic has two ultra-quiet 120mm PWM fans installed on the heatsink assembly. The heatsink is made up of 10 heat pipes and a total of 86 fins for efficient heat dissipation. This cooler is Crossfire compatible.

The next new cooler is the Accelero Xtreme 7970, specifically designed for the recently launched AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. With this cooler you are going to find a total of three ultra-quiet 92mm PWM fans, five heatpipes, and 84 fins to make up the heatsink assembly. This cooler is also CrossFire compatible and comes with MX-4 thermal paste pre-applied to the base.

The Accelero Twin Turbo II has a total cooling capacity of 250 Watts, achieved by having two ultra-quiet 92mm fans installed on top of five heatpipes and 35 fins which comprise the heatsink. A patented fan holder helps absorb the fan vibration, eliminating the buzzing sound many coolers have. This cooler is cross-platform and supports many ATI and NVIDIA cards.

The Accelero L2 PLUS is another VGA cooler that is cross-platform, however this cooler is designed for progressive users with a maximum cooling capacity of 120 Watts with just one 92mm fan installed. It features CrossFire and SLI compatibility as well as the MX-4 thermal paste pre-applied onto the base.

Arctic jumps into the PSU market with the Fusion 550 Series; while there are a total of four different models (550/550R/550F/550RF), Arctic only had the Fusion 550RF out for display. It has a total of 550 Watts of output power with 80 PLUS certification, and Arctic claims 82-86% efficiency and up to 99% active Power Factor Correction (PFC). It features an 80mm ARCTIC F8 Pro fan with intelligent fan control from 700-2,000 RPM on the end of the PSU, helping control the heat build-up inside the unit.

Arctic's MX-4 thermal compound has low thermal resistance, is easy to apply, and is available in 4 or 20 gram syringes with a viscosity of 870 poise. According to testing, the MX-4 was 5 °C cooler than the Akasa AK-455 thermal paste. The MX-2 thermal compound has a viscosity of 850 poise while still having low thermal resistance, and electrically non-conductive. This paste is available in 4/8/30/65 gram syringes.

Looking at the chassis fans that Arctic had out for display, you can see the ARCTIC F Pro PWM, which comes in sizes of 80mm, 92mm, and 120mm. These fans are extremely quiet with a low-noise impeller installed, and have high airflow and static pressure while still being compatible with screwless mounting and having fluid dynamic bearings that extend service life. The same specifications are seen in the ARCTIC F series as well, but the fan speeds are different. The F8 operates at 2,000/2,000 RPM, while the F9 can run at 1,800/2,000 RPM and the F12 at 1,350/1,500 RPM.

The ARCTIC NC is a compact, lightweight notebook cooler that fits all 12" to 19" laptop models and comes in either black or grey. It features dual quiet 60mm PWM fans that operate at 800-1,700 RPM, as well as a 4-port USB hub.

The ARCTIC Breeze mobile is a light, slim and virtually silent USB fan that operates at 1,700 RPM. This fan can be run on a PC, laptop, or USB charger for easy portability when you find yourself traveling to a warm location and need your own personal fan to help cool down.

Arctic also had a few of their headsets on display, like the P281 professional DJ headphones with an efficient 50mm driver with high sound pressure. The headband has 90-degree swivel ear cups and a gold-plated 6.3mm adapter. The other audio product that we saw was the P531 which is a 5.1 surround sound USB gaming headset with an in-line volume control for front, center, rear, and subwoofer speakers. It features 4 individual drivers in each ear cup for uncompromised 5.1 surround-sound dynamics and deep bass with a special subwoofer. The integrated vibration units offer a life-like gaming experience and has a built-in sound processor to ensure distortion-free digital audio. The P531 headset also has an adjustable headband with 90° swivel ear cups.

Comments

ShadowI think that the TRON mouse pad would work with any mouse. They did not have it set up for us reporters to play with, but from talking with the company rep I was led to believe that the bio-luminescent pain on the trim was head activated from your hand. So that as your hand swiped across it it would activate the light. NO word on how long that paint would last, but knowing Razer I would imagine quite a while.

I agree with you about the keyboard keys as well. I myself use a 1988 SiliconGraphics mechanical keyboard just because I enjoy the tactile response of the mechanical action. This is why I am personally interested in their BlackWidow series. That series uses all mechanical spring-loaded keys.

I will admit upfront that I am slightly biased towards Sennheiser. I have had a PC 156 headset that have been amazing for years now. They lasted me through my college years without breaking, and that is saying something.

Supernova1332I agree with you about the Fiona. I was personally not too impressed with it. They didn't have it open and available for us press to play with, but I would imagine that battery life would be an issue.

Loving most of the products so far but I have big doubts about Project Fiona. Between horrible battery life and low framerates or low settings (Or both in some cases) in new games I just don't see where this would fit in other than casual pc gamers, but then casual PC gamers aren't going to spend 1k on a tablet with thumb-sticks. Surely it's a cool idea but it doesn't have a big enough niche to be successful.

Odd thing. Maybe it's just me, but I notice a strange symbol in a line on the first page:

quote Line

The Freezer i30 is one of Arctic's newer coolers on the market.

Right in the middle, instead of "Arctic's", there is a weird symbol between the 'c' and the apostrophe.

Also, I want that Tron Keyboard and that mousepad (would it work with other mice?). Keyboard just sounds like the sex TBH. Bet it's expensive as heck >_> Yeah, it's $150 which isn't cheap. I found the Mouse (no trackpad) available on NCIX, but I had to go to Newegg.ca to find the Keyboard (though it's not currently available, it's listed for $130, which is less than the price on Razer's site).

Shame it seems that the style of the keyboard impacts its function. Would make for a poor gaming keyboard. Especially those flat keys (I like the more traditional blocky~ish keys). Pity. So yeah, I'll pass.

The Blade looks sexy as ever, but the price is even steeper than I expected >_> $2800? So much for recommending that to my friend over his Vaio idea. It costs twice as much XD

I'll have to remember Sennheiser much later on. I currently have a good pair of Turtle beach 4.1 headphones, and have another pair of headphones that might be better that I never got around to setting up XD